It'll be Alright
Episode Three of Twilight Blue. Enjoy~ It'll Be Alright "Great work, Scarletpaw." Pebblefur praised, blinking encouragingly at the red-furred apprentice. "Keep that up and you'll be a warrior in no time, I promise." Scarletpaw dropped the rabbit at the dark-pelted warrior's paws. "Thanks, Pebblefur!" he replied cheerily. "But I almost tripped over my own paws running after it. Bluepaw made the actual catch." He nodded to Bluepaw, whose ears pricked at the mention of her name. "So, yep. Give her all the credit!" Pebblefur turned his gaze to the blue-furred apprentice. "Great catch, Bluepaw." he meowed, nodding. Bluepaw shuffled her paws in embarrassment, nodding shyly. "It was Scarletpaw's catch, though--" she started. Her friend cut her off with a loud cough. "AHEM. It was your catch, Bluepaw. Isn't that right, Bluepaw? It was YOURS. " Scarletpaw insisted loudly. "And Pebblefur said great catch and so it's your catch." "Er... y-yes, I suppose so...?" Pebblefur's confusion was obvious. The grey-flecked tom nodded and picked up the large rabbit in his jaws. He turned, nodding back at them one more time, then strode away back to camp. Bluepaw watched his long tail disappear before looking at Scarletpaw. "Hey!" she protested. "It was your catch!" She felt guilty taking all the credit for the catch her friend had so obviously made. "I just nipped at its paws a couple of times. You brought it down." "C'mon. I was trying to help you." Scarletpaw huffed. "With Leafswirl acting all crazy and stuff, I figured that you needed a bit of pride in your head, y'know?" When Bluepaw glared at him, he grinned as if it were a joke. "Don't give me that look." Finding no use in arguing with the tom any further, she stood, waving her tail. "We should get back to camp. Flickerpaw's probably waiting for us." When Scarletpaw looked puzzled, Bluepaw rolled her eyes. "Remember? We promised that we'd eat with her? Geez, I can't believe you'd forget." She sighed, then turned and stalked away from him. "Hey, I didn't forget!" the red-furred apprentice argued, bounding after her. "I just, erm, lacked the ability to remember." He let out a weak, nervous laugh, as if he were basically admitting that he'd forgotten. Bluepaw tried to stifle a laugh. "It's the same thing." she laughed, prodding at her friend's flank with her paw. "One's just... nicer to say than the other." Scarletpaw pointed out, countering with a light kick to her shoulder with his hind paws. Regaining his balance and padding back up to stand beside Bluepaw, he meowed, "Anyway, we should go." "Yeah." Bluepaw agreed and the two started back to camp. ~*~*~ "There you two are!" Flickerpaw exclaimed as her friends padded up to her. "I was starting to get worried. But now that you're here, we can finally relax, right?" She purred. Scarletpaw nodded. "Mhm. Hey, what're we gonna eat? I'm starving." The russet tom looked over Flickerpaw's shoulder at the prey the she-cat had collected for them, and he let out a dissatisfied groan. "C'mon, why vole? Vole's just... ugh." "If you're so against eating vole," Flickerpaw growled, "then go grab something else and switch the vole out." The grey tabby watched as Scarletpaw let out a mumble of protest, but grabbed the fresh-kill and trudged toward the pile of prey. Then she leaned down and bit out of her squirrel. Bluepaw asked, "Flickerpaw, y'know that thing Leafswirl was talking about? StarClan's omen...?" She was a bit uncertain about bringing this topic up, but her friend seemed alright with it. "Yeah, I know that. The herbs and fur, right? What about it?" Flickerpaw meowed through her mouthful of fresh-kill. "You don't think it's... true, do you?" "Ehhh?" Flickerpaw swallowed her squirrel and gazed at Bluepaw. "Why would you say that?" "Well, I'm worried about it. It's always on my mind, and I don't want to hurt anyone." The blue-furred apprentice looked to her paws, scoring marks in the dust with her claws. "C'mon, Bluepaw." Flickerpaw mewed confortingly. "I assure you, her little 'omen' is nothing but thistledown." She brushed her tail over her friend's shoulder. "Nothing's going to happen, okay?" Suddenly Scarletpaw burst into their conversation, a rabbit in his jaws. "Heeyyyy, guys!" His voice was muffled by the rabbit, and Bluepaw could barely understand what the older apprentice was saying. "I'm back and I've got a good piece of prey!" Flickerpaw rolled her eyes. "We see that, featherhead." she laughed. "Are you going to share it?" She didn't wait for the russet tom's reply. She lunged for the rabbit's hind leg and sank her teeth into it, despite Scarletpaw's muffled protest. Scarletpaw dropped the rabbit and crouched beside Flickerpaw. Bluepaw only nudged her mouse with her paw, not hungry anymore. Scarletpaw seemed to notice, as he blinked at her with confusion in his eyes. He swallowed his piece of prey and stared at her, as if he were having a mental argument with himself. Then he asked, "What's up, Bluepaw?" He let out a hiss as Flickerpaw nudged him roughly with her paw, an angry glare in her eyes. The red-furred tom grumbled something before mewing, "Hey, can I have your mouse?" Bluepaw half-heartedly pushed the fresh-kill over to her friend. Despite his asking for the fresh-kill, Scarletpaw only stared at it blankly, as if he'd changed his mind. The three apprentices were silent, possibly due to the sudden change of atmosphere because of Scarletpaw's question. After about six minutes Scarletpaw stood and trotted away wordlessly, leaving the rabbit. Flickerpaw pushed the leftovers of her piece of rabbit away, then glanced at Bluepaw. She brushed her tail over her friend's shoulder before slipping into the apprentices' den. Bluepaw sat up, curling her tail around her forepaws. She glanced uneasily at the medicine cat's den, spotting Leafswirl in the shadows of the den, her back turned to the clearing. The medicine cat was tense, her dappled fur bristling and her tail lashing. A few small berries lay at her paws, but Bluepaw couldn't name them. Leafswirl's claws scraped against the grass and she appeared to be talking to herself. She didn't want to, but curiousity urged her forward. Bluepaw crept closer to listen to the medicine cat's mumbling. "...they don't trust their own medicine cat! The one who always receives prophecies and omens! From StarClan themselves. They'll believe me soon. They'll come to their senses." Bluepaw backed away silently, her ears flattened to her head. She turned to leave, and a snapping noise sounded underpaw. Leafswirl immediately went silent. Without another thought, Bluepaw streaked away, her pelt bristling. She stumbled but still managed to make it to safety unharmed. She peered out from behind the warriors' den, fear in her gaze. Leafswirl appeared at the mouth of the den, her teeth bared slightly. Bluepaw stepped back, afraid that the medicine cat would see her. But the medicine cat only twitched her ears and slipped back into her den. ''Thank StarClan! ''Bluepaw sighed in relief. The blue-grey apprentice padded around the den back into the clearing. The young she-cat, still wary of Leafswirl, briskly slipped across the clearing into the apprentices' den. Flickerpaw was asleep in her nest. -tbc Category:Twilight Blue